MERKEL IN MELTDOWN? Some of the strongest opposition to the German chancellor’s refugee policy has emerged from an unexpected quarter: her own cabinet. POLITICO’s Matthew Karnitschnig reports on the growing tensions between Angela Merkel and the conservatives in her party demanding a tougher line. http://politi.co/1HLFk2y

— Haphazard from the start: Germany is paying the price for a refugee policy that was flawed from the outset, Stefan Braun argues in Süddeutsche Zeitung. Merkel has approached the crisis “with a big heart, but not with a thought-out plan.” http://bit.ly/1PEcXcP

TALKING POINTS FROM THE VALLETTA SUMMIT…

1. RUSH FOR A DEAL WITH TURKEY: European Union leaders will invite Recep Tayyip Erdoğan to a special summit in Brussels aimed at stopping the flow of people into southern Europe. In return for patrolling the border with Greece, Turkey will get €3 billion. Now EU countries have to decide how much each will contribute. Guardian: http://bit.ly/1HEKLp2; POLITICO: http://politi.co/20PiAdu

2. ‘TIME IS RUNNING OUT FOR SCHENGEN’: Europe’s system of passport-free travel is unsustainable unless it can find a way to control the flow of refugees, Donald Tusk warned. Sweden has reimposed border controls and other countries are likely to follow. The story leads the Times in London this morning: http://thetim.es/1SMp7At

3. BREXIT — SO MUCH FOR DAVID CAMERON’S HOPES OF A QUICK DEAL: Tusk said that reaching an agreement on Britain’s demands for EU reforms before the next summit in Brussels on December 17 and 18 will be “very, very tough.” http://ind.pn/1MMyQSg

RYAN HEATH IS AWAY TODAY. For one day only, Playbook is coming to you from London: I’m POLITICO’s European media correspondent, filling in while Ryan takes a day off. He’ll be back Monday.

**A message from MasterCard: Financial inclusion and inclusive growth matter. In the future, we can’t have the Internet of Everything without the Inclusion of Everyone. Let’s make sure this does not happen http://www.mobileworldlive.com/mwc15-keynote**

BIG STORY HERE IN THE UK — CRISIS IN THE HEALTH SERVICE: Thousands of junior doctors will go on strike for three days next month if a ballot approves industrial action. The doctors are furious about a new contract the government wants to impose as part of its plan to extend more of the National Health Service to seven days a week. The British Medical Association says it’ll amount to a huge pay cut. Jeremy Hunt, the health secretary, accused the doctors of being “extreme” by threatening strike action. http://bit.ly/1HL3SbS

— A PR disaster in the making: Hunt’s fight with the trainee doctors has been “cataclysmic, one of the worst public relations disasters to rock a government department for years, and it shows no sign of abating,” Max Pemberton, a doctor and author, writes in the latest issue of Spectator magazine. Doctors don’t want to strike and risk harm to their patients, he adds, “But they feel desperate.” http://bit.ly/1OG6QpX

— NHS facing a perfect storm: The row with the doctors comes at a time when steep budget cuts are stretching services to the breaking point. New figures yesterday revealed that key targets such as ambulance waiting times and patient discharge were missed badly in September. “On almost every measure, the NHS in England is in a worse position than this time last year,” the BBC said. http://bbc.in/1QkoCiw

MORE BREXIT NEWS…

DON’T ASSUME THE BRITISH WILL VOTE TO STAY IN: Peter Kellner, president of the polling company YouGov, writes in the latest Prospect magazine that the refugee crisis and Greek bailout are weighing on voters’ minds. More turmoil in the months ahead could actually swing the vote in favor of Brexit. Which side Boris Johnson backs could also make a difference. http://bit.ly/1Sn7uGC

— Stop worrying and learn to love the EU: Cameron should make a positive case for British membership, the Economist argues in an editorial in its latest issue. “Only by convincing [voters] of the benefits of membership will he ensure that Britons have the stomach not just to stay reluctantly in the EU, but to play a bigger, bolder role in it.” http://econ.st/1NtAkS4

THE VISIT THAT STOPPED BRITAIN YESTERDAY: George Clooney visited an Edinburgh sandwich shop whose staff were formerly homeless, and the whole country TOTALLY LOST ITS MIND. Clooney didn’t even eat a sandwich. http://bit.ly/1iXSToW

NARENDRA MODI ALSO ARRIVED: Weeks after Xi Jinping’s state visit, the British rolled out the red carpet for the leader of another Asian powerhouse, with India’s prime minister in London for three days. Yesterday, Modi lunched at Downing Street, gave a speech to Parliament, and announced about £9 billion in trade deals with Cameron. Today he’ll address a crowd of about 60,000 at Wembley Stadium. There’s a sense of unfulfilled promise about the relationship between the two countries, despite their close historical links, which Cameron promised to rectify. http://on.ft.com/1MMy6wi

— A quirk of British etiquette: Because Modi is merely the head of India’s government, not the head of state, he won’t get the full treatment laid on for Xi Jinping, the FT’s political editor George Parker pointed out. Xi had a state banquet and slept at Buckingham Palace; Modi has to settle for staying at Cameron’s official country residence. He does get to have lunch with the Queen today, though.

— One thing Modi’s visit does have in common with that of China’s leader: a lot of uncomfortable questions about human rights. There were demonstrations against caste-related violence as Modi met with Cameron, and the first question the Indian leader was asked at their joint press conference, by a BBC journalist, was why India is becoming so intolerant; http://bit.ly/1GZ1Biw. Anish Kapoor, the British-Indian artist, told Channel 4 News that India’s 500 million non-Muslims are living in “an atmosphere of fear.”

FRANCE — VALLS PANNED OVER ANTI-FN ALLIANCE: French Prime Minister Manuel Valls’ suggestion that the left and center-right join forces to defeat Marine Le Pen in regional elections was widely criticized. Martine Aubry, the Socialist mayor of Lille, said: “You would not go about it differently if you wanted the FN to win.” Nicolas Sarkozy’s Les Républicains said it was crazy, and that voicing the possibility of Le Pen winning helped her campaign in the Nord-Pas-de-Calais region, where polls show her in the lead. Valls fired back, saying that to deny the possibility of Le Pen’s victory was “lying to the French.” http://bit.ly/1NO6XhP

FRANCE — MACRON FOR PRESIDENT? A report in Le Monde mentions a discreet campaign to build enthusiasm around a possible presidential bid by French Economy Minister Emmanuel Macron in 2017. Would he defy François Hollande, his mentor in government? http://bit.ly/1krqJVa. Sources told POLITICO last month that Macron had high political ambitions but did not want to risk a clash with his elders in the near term. http://politi.co/1VyePcf

ITALY — POLICE BREAK UP JIHADIST TERROR PLOT: In what the Caribinieri called the “most important police operation in Europe in 20 years,” authorities in Italy, Britain, Norway and Finland arrested 13 members of a Kurdish Sunni terror group that, it was claimed, was planning to target European diplomats and recruit fighters for Iraq and Syria. http://politi.co/1M8M1Q8

CATALONIA — ARTUR MAS STRUGGLES TO KEEP HIS JOB: The pro-independence parties Junts pel Sí and CUP might agree on separation from Spain, but not who leads their government coalition. Yesterday’s second attempt by Artur Mas to get re-elected as Catalan president failed spectacularly, even though he proposed his critical junior partner CUP a compromise, offering a confidence vote on his performance after 10 months in office. Mas’ only hope is now a third round, which he has until January to hold — although “every day that passes is a lost day for Catalonia” and its ambitions for breaking with Spain, as Mas argued yesterday. POLITICO’s Hans von der Burchard reports: http://politi.co/1PqBALC

SPAIN — EL PAÍS AT WAR WITH THE NEW YORK TIMES: The sacking of an esteemed columnist has deepened an argument about media freedom. Guy Hedgecoe reports from Madrid for POLITICO: http://politi.co/1MEvAfV

BRUSSELS — A DATE FOR YOUR DIARY: On Tuesday, November 17, the BBC World Service will host a debate about the future of the “European project” at the Royal Library of Belgium. Jonathan Dimbleby will chair a discussion that includes Frans Timmermans, the European Commission’s first vice-president. It marks the launch of the BBC World Service English on DAB+ radio in Brussels. Register here: http://bit.ly/1M5MbZT

BRUSSELS — UBER’S TOP EUROPEAN LOBBYIST HAS HAD ENOUGH: Mark McGann, Uber’s head of public policy for Europe, the Middle East and Africa, is leaving on amicable terms for an unnamed venture at a turbulent time for the disruptive ride-sharing company. “I’ve done 18 months at Uber, which is like 5 years anywhere else,” he told the FT’s Murad Ahmed: http://on.ft.com/1NO7wYR. It’s worth revisiting Ryan’s interview with Uber’s chief strategist David Plouffe from POLITICO in September: http://politi.co/1QsVcvu

**A message from MasterCard: Financial inclusion and inclusive growth matter because without them large swaths of the global population are left behind. Around 2 billion people do not have a bank account and millions more do not use their bank accounts regularly. And it is not just a developing market issue. Here in Western Europe, around 100 million people are un- or underbanked. MasterCard is committed to reach 500 million people previously excluded from financial services by 2020. In the future, it is crucial that we avoid having the Internet of Everything without the Inclusion of Everyone. http://newsroom.mastercard.com/digital-press-kits/mastercard-and-financial-inclusion/**

**YOU’RE INVITED: Join POLITICO for our event “The Industrial Internet Era” on November 26 for an afternoon discussion on the impact of the Industrial Internet on factories, business models and the way we work. The event, presented by ETNO, features speakers including Alex White, Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources, Ireland; Kamil Kiljański, Chief Economist, DG Grow, European Commission; Pierre Louette, Deputy Chief Executive Officer, General Secretary, Operators (France) and Purchasing, Orange and Wojciech Wiewiórowski, Assistant European Data Protection Supervisor, EDPS. RSVP: http://politi.co/1NwUGOB**